Top Detroit official suspended with pay, apologizes for racial comments

7:43 PM, October 10, 2013

Restructuring expert Jim Bonsall, who was hired by the city of Detroit as the chief financial officer as the city works it's way through Chapter 9 bankruptcy, talks to reporters on Tuesday July 23, 2013 at the Mayor's office in Detroit. / Ryan Garza / Detroit Free Press

Chief Financial Officer Jim Bonsall, in a statement issued through emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s office, expressed remorse for the comment in which he asked, apparently in jest, whether he’d be able to shoot anyone in a hoodie if he participated in the city’s annual Angels’ Night anti-arson patrols.

The remark was an apparent reference to the fatal shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin, who died after a confrontation with neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

“I apologize and am sorry for having offended co-workers over comments I made during a recent meeting,” Bonsall said in the statement. “Regardless of the outcome of the internal investigation or whether I keep my job as a result of it, it was never my intention to offend anyone.”

Orr spokesman Bill Nowling said Bonsall has been suspended with pay pending the investigation. It wasn't clear how long the probe would take.

The apology came a day after freep.com reported that the city’s recently demoted finance director, Cheryl Johnson, said in a letter to Mayor Dave Bing, Orr and other city officials that Bonsall created a hostile work environment, berating employees in a manner that was particularly pronounced against minority women. Bonsall, who in July replaced the city’s former CFO Jack Martin, is white; Johnson is African American and the mother of a teenage son.

Orr’s office said the city’s Human Resources Department has launched an internal investigation into Bonsall’s comments and other allegations made by Johnson. Orr’s spokesman said a full report of the investigation’s findings and recommendations by the city’s human resources director will be given to Orr when it’s completed, and Orr will then decide what disciplinary actions, if any, are warranted.

Johnson’s letter, obtained by the Free Press, said she believed she was demoted in retaliation for making complaints about Bonsall’s treatment of employees and his comments.